Released 1995 (Australia) Recorded 1994 Label Murmur | Format CD single Length 5:20 Writer(s) Daniel Johns | |
"Israel's Son" is a song by Australian rock band Silverchair, released in 1995. It was the third single released from their debut full-length album, Frogstomp, which was released earlier the same year. It was also released on their The Best of Volume 1, and used on the soundtrack to the western version of Street Fighter II: The Animated Movie.
It is the only Frogstomp song the band still played live in the years prior to the band going into "indefinite hibernation” in 2011. The song was taken half a step down, likely to compensate for Daniel Johns' changing vocals.
Murder trial
In a January 1996 murder case, the defendant counsel for Brian Bassett, 16, and Nicholaus McDonald, 18, claimed that the pair listened to "Israel's Son", from Frogstomp, which contributed to the murder of Bassett's parents and a younger brother. McDonald's lawyer cited the lyrics "'Hate is what I feel for you/I want you to know that I want you dead'" which were "almost a script. They're relevant to everything that happened". The band's manager, Watson, issued a statement that they did not condone nor intend any such acts of violence, "The band is appalled by this horrific crime, and they hope that justice will prevail". Prosecutors rejected the defence case and convinced the jury that the murder was committed to "steal money and belongings and run off to California."